Monday, June 18, 2012

Thematic Photographic 200 - Abstract

Curves in the air
London, ON
June 2012






















Welcome to our new Thematic theme, "abstract", where if it's weird and disconnected from reality, we want to see it.*

This particular shot was an interesting one to capture. My son had been attending an after-school youth program. Since it was a hot day, they were outside playing in the sprinkler when I pulled up to pick him up. Given the complexities involved in convincing a playful 11-year-old to break away from his friends so he can dry off and head home, I found myself waiting. A while.

The program leader asked me to take a few pictures of the kids, which I was happy to do. But even that got old after a few minutes when I realized there were only so many interesting ways to capture little people frolicking in a sprinkler while their parents begged them to finish up.

So I wandered off to the periphery and thought about ways of shooting the water, instead. I sat down on the grass and calculated how I was going to handle longish exposures in bright sunshine without a neutral density filter (must. add. to. list.) In the end, I settled on 1/5 of a second as a baseline, which made for some interesting patterns as I blindly tried to view the results on the sun-washed screen of my camera. Not a very elegant shoot, by any means, but I managed to snag a couple of useful frames by the time little man, now all nicely dressed and dry, found his way back to me.

Your turn: Thematic is all about shooting pictures that support the theme, posting them to your blog, leaving a comment here, then visiting other participants. It's all about exploring the theme for the entire week, participating as often as you wish, and hopefully introducing this insanity to someone new. Because photography wants - nay, needs - to be shared. And this is the best way I know to accomplish just that. Are you game? (If this is all new to you, click here and all will be explained.)

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* This isn't just a very special Blossom. It's a very special Thematic, too, our 200th. Thank you to everyone who's participated over the past few years, who's helped make this a highlight for me and for everyone who visits. It's been a wonderful journey, and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

19 comments:

fredamans said...

Nice shot! I took a shot of the hubby spraying water into the bird bath, but chose fireworks from last night, St. Anthony duPadua's festival at Ivor Wynne.

http://fredamans.blogspot.ca/2012/06/thematic-photographic-abstract.html

Jim said...

Nice picture, Carmi ~~ Really pretty in its own way.
Congratulations on keeping this meme running to post # 200! It is post # 002 for me as just this week and last were my first two here.

Mine is called "The Blob" but after describing its origins there isn't much scary about it.
..
http://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/2012/06/running-with-wrong-crowd-midweek-blues.html
..

Alexia said...

200!! Fantastic. Congratulations, Carmi - and thanks so much for sticking with it and finding time to post your great ideas.

Abstract is good, and your shot works really well.
Here are some somewhat abstract picks from me.

Gilly said...

Great shot, Carmi! I love doing abstract photos, so here are mine

Tina´s PicStory said...

cool shot! my abstract is here:
http://tinaspicstory.blogspot.de/2012/06/ich-hatt-da-mal-ne-frage.html
:)

Kalei's Best Friend said...

hey, Carmi! here is mine:
http://afreshstartwithkalei.blogspot.com/2012/06/thematic-photograph-200abstract.html

Unless you got lost on purpose said...

nice shot, love the sense of movement from the arcing water... made me think of a similar shape from one of my photos, 'invasive species":
http://unlessyougotlostonpurpose.blogspot.com/2012/05/invasive-species.html

Bob Scotney said...

Congratulations Carmi on reaching TP - 200. It's an inspiring theme to be involved with each week. Thanks for all the work you put in to enable us to play.
Here's my abstract attempt; http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2012/06/tell-me-story-thematic-photography.html

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Sprinkler! Great idea, Carmi.

For mine, I took a couple of shots I've taken of Lake Siri geese, and cropped the geese out of them. You get a brand new look...

http://ifthethunderdontgetya.blogspot.com/2012/06/foggy-mountain-deer-orbs.html
~

Max Sartin said...

So far you have a bunch of great abstract pictures here on your 200th TP. We're going out to Antelope Island today to take pictures, so I'm going to see what abstracts I can come up with out there.

Kalei's Best Friend said...

hey Carmi, here's mine:
http://afreshstartwithkalei.blogspot.com/2012/06/thematic-photograph-200abstract.html

Max Sartin said...

Here are my abstract pictures.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the 200th Thematic Photographic, Carmi! Thank you for sharing your world with us throughout these years and for hosting this community of photographers and writers and bringing us together.

I pulled out all the stops, with this one. It’s not light reading and definitely not for the faint-hearted, but it is an abstract of what it means to be Titanium.

Unknown said...

Congratulations and thank you for your 200th Thematic. This one is for you.

21 Wits said...

What a great photo Carmi, it reminds me of something I may have scribbled on a chalkboard years ago!
Here is mine

http://twincitiesblather.blogspot.com/2012/06/thematic-photographic-200-abstract.html

Max Sartin said...

The pictures may not be abstract, but what these high school kids are doing seems a little bit. Here they are.

mignon said...

Congratulations, Carmi, on your 200th Thematic Photographic! Nice photo to celebrate.

Today I posted something which is, in fact, absolutely abstract.

larkswing said...

Happy 200th!! Finally getting mine posted. It can be found here:

http://thegreengrassgrowsallaround.blogspot.com/2012/06/thematic-photo-200-beachy-abstract.html

me said...

it looks like fireworks! beautiful shot and congrads on hitting #200! This is a wonderful way to view the world.